Used brass how many times fired

The only way to tell if it's once fired is if either you fire it yourself or if it has crimped factory primers.
The only once fired brass that I've paid good money for was Lake City 7.62x51 that I had to deprime and swage the primer pockets myself.

As for how many times you can reuse a piece of brass depends on how lightly or heavily it is loaded and if the case necks are annealed periodically.
I have a friend who loaded some 300RUM so far above max load that he scrapped 25 pieces of virgin Norma brass after the first firing.
The primer pockets were so loose that the primers had absolutely no resistance.

My Lapua 308 brass that isn't heavily loaded has been reloaded 24 times but I anneal after every 2nd firing.
 
Speaking of head stamps hard to read......this is part of the reason I posed the question to begin with I guess.... about 2 years ago I had given to me about 500 rounds of .45acp with semi wad cutter bullets. No idea how it was reloaded so today I pulled 10 rounds with the Hammer style puller to see what was loaded inside. Some of the head stamps are very worn and the cases " look " ( if that a proper term to describe them ) like they have been reloaded... how many times I have no idea. The lead bullets are also a little worst for wear. Upon taking them apart it appears to be 2 different kinds of powder used at 2 different weights. The fine black powder is at 9.4gns and the greenish powder is at 5.4gns. The bullets weights also seem to be 2 different weights ( and some variation within as well ). I'm waiting on a RCBS Press mounted puller to arrive from Cabela's so I can take them all apart. The cases can probably be reloaded but not sure about the bullets.... as mentioned already some are a little rough. What are the opinions on these? Also just as an after thought can the 2 different powders be identified just by the photos? Just curious as it's being tossed anyway. Will probably de prime and re prime with new primers as well seems as I have no idea what primers were used.

The powder on the scale showing 5.4gr looks like WIN231. If that was paired with the 185gr bullet that is close to the Missouri bullet 5.6gr load.
If it were me this is what I would do.
I would disassemble 5 rounds of 1 bullet type with the 5.4 grains and see how consistent the powder charges and appearance of the powder are.
If they are within 0.1 grain of each other and the COAL are very close to one another I would take a chance and test fire I round and see what it gives you.
My reasoning behind this is that at 5.4 grains and such a light bullet for .45ACP even the hottest pistol powders such as Titegroup shouldn't be an issue for overpressure.
Hodgdon Clays which is even hotter than Titegroup shows .45ACP 156gr LSWC with 5.2gr.
 
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The powder on the scale showing 5.4gr looks like WIN231. If that was paired with the 185gr bullet that is close to the Missouri bullet 5.6gr load.
If it were me this is what I would do.
I would disassemble 5 rounds of 1 bullet type with the 5.4 grains and see how consistent the powder charges and appearance of the powder are.
If they are within 0.1 grain of each other and the COAL are very close to one another I would take a chance and test fire I round and see what it gives you.
My reasoning behind this is that at 5.4 grains and such a light bullet for .45ACP even the hottest pistol powders such as Titegroup shouldn't be an issue for overpressure.
Hodgdon Clays which is even hotter than Titegroup shows .45ACP 156gr LSWC with 5.2gr.

I'll have to wait for the RCBS press mounted puller to arrive to check the powder weight proper. Using the hammer style puller allows for lots of powder being lost on the bench etc as opposed to remaining in the case to get an accurate measure.

I have to ask...what is a Misouri bullet 5.6gn load??
 
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Signed but if the most signed petition in Canadian history never had any affect than the best of luck with this one.

I'll have to wait for the RCBS press mounted puller to arrive to check the powder weight proper. Using the hammer style puller allows for lots of powder being lost on the bench etc as opposed to remaining in the case to get an accurate measure.

I have to ask...what is a Misouri bullet 5.6gn load??

Missouri Bullet Company is a company in the USA that sells cast bullets.
On some US forums people share their load data.
One of the loads that is known to work well in a variety of firearms in .45 ACP is 5.6 grains of WIN231 over a Missouri Bullet 185gr LSWC.
Just like 41.7gr of IMR 4064 over a 175gr SMK in .308.
 
You can resize, just remove the primer pin from the die.
:agree: When a bullet is seated in a sized case it will typically expand the case slightly. If you pull the bullet the case does not fully shrink back to its sized diameter. If you reseat a bullet, because some of the case tension has been lost there is less bullet/case friction so it is easier for the bullet to move under recoil which you do not want. The primers can be left in place. As Meroh has noted just take out the decapping pin when you resize the case. Case tension is restored and then you can flare the primed case, add powder and reseat the bullet.
 
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